Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

The Forest Lake chapter of Rotary International had one big fundraising event each year and in past years theyíve held Summer Fest, but this year theyíre changing things up. For this yearís fundraiser the FL Rotary is teaming up with Pro Kart for Race for Rotary.

The Race for the Rotary will be a one day event where racers will get behind the wheel of a state of the art racing kart that travels at speeds around 40 m.p.h. The track will be 1?3 of a mile with two hairpin turns and one long sweeping curve.

The Race will be August 6 in the Northland Mall parking lot.

Racers can enter the Race for Rotary individually or as a team of 10 racers. There is a $100 entry fee for each racer. The entry fee covers driver pit access on race day, an event T-shirt, a pre-qualification pass to a Pro Kart Indoor Raceway facility and a chance to win other prizes.

ìOur goal is to get a minimum of 400 racers signed up, but weíd like 500,î Chris Johnson of the FL Rotary said. ìWe can handle 600 racers in one day though weíre told. Weíre not worried about selling too many tickets thatís for sure, weíre worried about selling too few.î

On race day, the top three racers in the first heat will move on to the second round. Racers will compete for the grand prize which is a trip for two to Las Vegas and a ride-along at the Petty School of Racing.

Tickets can be Purchased at Novak Pontiac, GMC or by contacting any Rotary member. The last day to sign up is July 15.
Why the change?

With the source of Rotaryís funds coming from either donations or fundraisers the FL Rotary decided several years ago to hold Summer Fest where they held a party with a band, food and a silent auction and that was successful for many years.

ìThere wasnít any single reason we decided to end Summer Fest,î Johnson said. ìA lot of the members that were involved in starting it are no longer in the club and we felt it had run itís course and we wanted to start something new to raise money.î

The FL Rotary wasnít sure what theyíd replace Summer Fest with, but then they saw the Apple Valley chapter of Rotary teamed up with Pro Kart and held a day of racing and it was successful.

ìIf we couldnít find anything to replace Summer Fest we would have done it again, but then we saw what they did in Apple Valley and the best part was Pro Kart already had a model of how to do this,î Johnson said.

For more information on the Race for Rotary call Chris Johnson at 651-464-7292, Cindy Mattson at 651-464-7581 or Doug Goerss at 651-379-4817.

What is Rotary?

Rotary International is service organization that began 100 years ago in Chicago and is made up of business and professional leaders. The members of Rotary work on humanitarian projects and encourage high ethical standards in all areas of life.

Over the last ten years the FL Rotary has donated over $261,000 in the Forest Lake community in different projects and organizations. Organizations that have benefitted most from the FL Rotary are the Youth Service Bureau, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and the Community Scholarship Fund.

The FL Rotary meets weekly on Wednesdays at the Jelly Jar at noon.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605